Top questions for Governor Murphy’s nominee for transportation commissioner

By Talya Schwartz, Jimmy Lee, Emmanuelle Morgen, Hudson County Complete Streets

New Jersey faces a trio of transportation crises around an epidemic of preventable traffic violence, climate change and funding NJ Transit, and outdated, large-scale highway expansions.

In the midst of these challenges, Gov. Phil Murphy has nominated Francis O’Connor to be the next commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation. This role comes with broad responsibilities, and with the additional duties of chair of the NJ Transit and Turnpike Authority boards.

Given how critical this role is in facing this trio of crises, the Senate should use its advice and consent powers to determine whether the candidate meets the needs of the public. Specifically, the Senate has the opportunity to prioritize safe streets, improve public transportation, responsibly manage our state funds, and recognize that motor vehicles are the number one source of pollution in New Jersey.

Here are the most important questions for O’Connor to answer:

Vision Zero

Vehicular crashes are the top cause of death nationally for people ages 1 to 54. In 2022, New Jersey reached a 15-year high in total crash deaths, with over 700 killed statewide, and a 30-year high of 217 pedestrians killed in 2021. Many crash deaths are recurring on roadways that are well-known to be dangerous, and many of these high-injury roadways are state roads under state jurisdiction. For example, an aide of the governor was killed this year on Route 1, a notoriously dangerous highway with more than 20 traffic deaths per year. Jersey City, Hoboken, Middlesex County, and Hudson County have all committed to Vision Zero, a science-based, systems-based program for reducing traffic deaths that has successfully saved countless lives all around the world. Working with advocates, the Legislature is likely to pass a Vision Zero bill in 2024 that is in line with The United States Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy to reach zero traffic fatalities on our roads by 2040. Will you commit to working toward achieving zero deaths on NJ roadways? How will you work to make our roadways safer for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists?

State-controlled highways run through many communities, dividing neighborhoods with rivers of high speed and unsafe traffic. For example, the upper level of Route 139 — the infamous highway on top of a highway — cuts through the heart of densely populated Jersey City, separating the Heights neighborhood from Journal Square, which is also the major transportation hub in the city. Moreover, 72% of the people living along the Turnpike corridor and along Route 139 in Hudson County are minorities and designated environmental justice communities. What can you do to repair these divided communities and respond to environmental justice community needs for safe ways to walk, bike, and use transportation alternatives in their own neighborhoods?

NJ Transit

NJ Transit is the third-largest transit agency in the country, providing more than 170 million trips per year, and yet it has the lowest amount of dedicated funding of all public transportation agencies. Without dedicated funding, NJ Transit faces a roughly $1 billion annual shortfall that may result in service cuts. We have seen in Hudson County that increased service and bus lines have driven increased demand, with more than 95% of bus ridership having returned to pre-COVID numbers. But so many problems with service routes, frequency, and reliability remain. Are you or will you commit to being a regular rider of NJ Transit trains and buses? What is your vision for improving the experience for NJ Transit riders in a growing and urbanizing state? How do you plan to increase the frequency and reliability of NJ Transit services? How do you propose to close the funding gap for NJ Transit?

NJ Transit has proposed a 15% fare hike, but it still does not offer a fare card for low-income riders and students, even though it’s the best way to ensure affordability and access to public transportation. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for example, offers a fair fares program that gives a 50% discount for low-income residents. Additionally, transferring between buses, trains, and light rail remains both complicated and costly for riders, and technologically, it is lagging. What is your plan for prioritizing a fare system that includes fare cards for low-income and frequent riders? What is your plan for simplifying our ticketing system so that riders can easily transfer between modes of transportation and zones?

Over 90% of New Jersey-to-New York City commuters use mass transit, with roughly an even distribution of commuters riding NJ Transit trains, buses, and PATH. The Lincoln Tunnel’s exclusive bus lane, implemented in 1970, transports 10 times the number of passengers as the tunnel’s three car lanes combined. But service on all three public transit options is severely lacking and does not meet demand, resulting in long waits, particularly on evenings and weekends. Access to the economic engines and job centers of New York City and Philadelphia strongly drive New Jersey’s economy. How will you work with the Port Authority to expand bus lane hours beyond just weekday mornings and improve PATH frequency? Will you push for a dedicated bus lane on the 14-lane George Washington Bridge? What is your plan for a direct Hudson County-to-Newark-airport connection, which currently takes 90 minutes via NJ Transit?

The top source of climate change pollution in New Jersey is from vehicles, whereas trains and buses are the most climate-friendly modes of travel and freight transport. What will you do to incentivize public transportation and active transportation rather than continuing to promote car and truck travel through highway expansions? 

While NJ Transit’s capital budget continues to be raided and a roughly $1 billion dollar operating budget deficit looms, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority is planning to spend $24 billion on outdated, polluting, and inefficient highway expansions. Would you support increasing the allocation of Turnpike funds to NJ Transit via a revised Memorandum of Understanding?

NJ Turnpike and highways

Hudson County residents — together with the Jersey City mayor and the unanimous support of Jersey City City Council, Hoboken City Council — have opposed a planned $10.7 billion widening of the Route 78 Turnpike extension ending at the Holland Tunnel. The cost is enormous, roughly three times that of the entire Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system. Moreover, additional traffic will bottleneck either at the Holland Tunnel or on already congested local Hudson County roadways, bringing more trucks and more pollution and road dangers to urban and environmental justice communities. Will you commit to canceling the Turnpike widening project and redirecting funds to study and build more efficient and much-needed mass transit alternatives? 

Additionally, the Turnpike Authority is planning to spend $24 billion on highway expansions statewide, a decision pushed through in the early days of the pandemic with nearly zero public involvement. The last capital plan was only $7 billion, and induced demand has proven that over time, highway expansions will not alleviate traffic congestion — that within just a few years, more people will make a choice to drive, and the highway will be crowded again. Will you commit to accounting for the full climate and environmental justice impact of highway widening projects? And moreover, should the state be able to widen highways indefinitely?

New York City is implementing congestion pricing to fund transit and address climate, air pollution, and traffic safety concerns. What similar programs can New Jersey implement to recognize the externalities of traffic dangers and air pollution and reduce congestion in its urban and environmental justice communities?

An earlier version of this column should have said the George Washington Bridge has 14 lanes of traffic.